New Beginnings
by coldfusion9797
Summary: Scottish gin, second chances and the perfect shade of blue. Harry and Tequila go on a date. Part six in Yellow Brick Road series.


**AN: I hope no one was too upset about Digby getting Roxy's code name in the last part. I did do that for a couple of reasons (one of which is that Digby's allowed to have dreams too) and it will be addressed again later on. For now though, enjoy this helping of schmoopy fluff, just because...**

Rebuilding the agency didn't leave much room for personal time. Between recruitment (they'd abducted Digby and Hugo, putting them through a similar test to the old Kingsman railroad one, and Amelia from Berlin had been brought in as the new head of operations), acquiring new facilities and equipment, and overseeing the new distillery, they were busy. Most of Bedivere's duties had him managing the distillery because he had experience in the alcohol business. He was freshly back from a trip to Scotland (a day earlier than planned) with a bottle of Kingsman gin in hand. Whisky would've been better, but it would be three years before the first batch was ready.

Even though he'd only been gone for a week, he was keen to see Harry, and to show him the new Kingsman product. It was a big step towards securing the future of Kingsman, not to mention it didn't taste too bad.

Because of their hectic schedules, they hadn't spent much personal time together since the day at Merlin's, and Tequila wanted to. He really liked Harry and he wanted him to understand that he was serious about him. Wanted him to understand that they could be something more, if the older agent would allow it.

It was no surprise when he found Harry tucked behind a desk. He strolled into the office and plonked the alcohol bottle down in front of the Englishman.

"Fresh from the still. Kingman's first bottle."

Harry looked up at him with a warm smile, and it got him every time. Being around Harry made him feel calm and centred. Like he wanted to be, and could be, the best version of himself.

"Grab two glasses if you would please."

The younger agent retrieved the crystal tumblers and sat them down so Harry could pour. Watching the clear liquid spill into the glass, he was proud of this achievement, and excited too, to see what Harry thought. He wanted Harry to like it. He hoped he'd done a good job.

Harry held his glass up.

"To new beginnings."

"New beginnings," Tequila echoed, clinking his glass to Harry's before taking a mouthful. He let it sit in his mouth to appreciate the flavour, before swallowing it. The blend was dry and crisp, perfect to drink neat.

Harry sighed appreciatively.

"One more to be sure?" the older agent offered.

"My thoughts exactly," Tequila agreed, holding out his glass.

They shared another nip.

"Excellent work, Bedivere. We'll add a dash of vermouth to that later and see what happens."

"That sounds like a promise."

"Be assured of it."

Sampling the liquor was only one of the reasons Tequila had come looking for Harry immediately.

"You about done for the day?" he asked.

"I suppose I could be. Incidentally, aren't you back a day early?"

Tequila was surprised, though not unhappy, that Harry had noticed.

"Guess I missed you," he ventured, reaching over and touching Harry's hand, pleased when Harry didn't pull away. "And I'll bet you been parked behind that desk the whole time I been gone."

"Not the whole time. Gherkin needs her loo breaks. Don't you, sweetheart?"

The scruffy Cairn Terrier spun around in a circle and wagged her tail. Harry leaned down to give her a pat. She looked like she'd grown some in the week he'd been gone. Harry was hopeless, he fed her too much.

"Let's get out of here for a bit," Tequila said, drawing Harry's attention back from the dog.

"What about Gherkin?"

"Amelia can watch her for a little while. Come on."

The sun was close to setting by the time they wandered into Regent's Park.

"Hungry?" he asked.

"I could eat."

They grabbed a quick dinner from one of the kiosks, sitting on a park bench to eat the sandwiches.

"Is this a date?" Harry enquired, no indication in his tone as to what he preferred the answer to be.

"You tell me."

"Well you've wined me and dined me."

"Sounds like it could be then. Better than nearly getting raped by Elton John, huh?"

"That was not a date."

"Course not."

"That being said however," Harry continued a faint smile on his lips, "it wasn't a completely terrible evening."

"It surely wasn't," Tequila agreed, remembering that first kiss, that small taste of what might be possible, and leaning over now to brush his fingers through Harry's curls and press a kiss to his temple.

"I wonder where exactly you think this evening his heading?"

He had one idea and hoped it wouldn't be a bust.

"Come on," he said, grabbing Harry's hand. Harry stood up and gave him a curious look.

"Where are we going?"

Tequila didn't want to spoil the surprise, so he settled for an assurance which would hopefully keep Harry satisfied.

"I promise you'll like it."

xxx

Harry let himself be lead to a high security fence. It was the one surrounding London Zoo. Tequila expertly scaled it and dropped down on the other side, looking back at Harry expectantly.

"Ain't no cameras here to worry about."

Harry wasn't about to let himself be shown up by a less experienced agent, he glanced up and down the Broad Walk before making quick work of the fence too.

"This way," Tequila said, heading deeper into the zoo.

They passed a few aviaries, the birds all tucked up asleep now that it was dark, and before too long they arrived at a large glasshouse labelled 'Butterfly Paradise'. Harry wouldn't have minded having a look inside one day, obviously though it would be locked up tight at this hour.

Tequila didn't seem deterred though, he promptly bypassed the security system and got them in.

"How do you...?" In fact, he seemed to know an awful lot about the security here. "You've been here before," Harry surmised.

"Maybe," the cowboy admitted. "Come on."

Inside it was much warmer than the cool London air outside. The structure was full of jungle plants and miniature waterfalls, the leaves of the glossy, green plants brushing against them as they ventured along the path.

"See anything interesting?"

Looking around, there wasn't much happening. Harry appreciated the thought, bringing him to a butterfly house was a nice idea, but at this time of night there wouldn't be much activity to see.

"They're all quiescent."

"That mean you want me to hit the lights?"

"No, leave it. You'll disrupt their natural behaviours."

"Wouldn't matter too much, plenty more caterpillars in the nursery. Most of them only live for a few days anyway. Some of the poor bastards don't even have mouths..."

"How do you know that?"

"Everyone knows that."

"No they don't... Have you been reading up on lepidoptery?"

"I mighta looked up a few things when you started doodling all over the walls of your cell..."

"Oh..." So it was just work. That disappointed Harry more than he cared to let on.

"Hey look..." Tequila said, pointing towards a particular spot. Harry turned to look, and there, hanging on a leaf, was a magnificent moth.

" _Coscinocera hercules_..." Harry whispered. This was one of the largest moths on Earth. London Zoo had always kept Atlas Moths, but a Hercules, he'd never seen a live one of those before.

"That's a female," Harry assessed, judging by the large size and broad wings. Tequila was right about the short lifespan of the adult moth. She needed to mate and lay eggs right away. "She emits a pheromone to attract the male. He can detect it from kilometres away."

"Too bad London is a little further than that from Australia..."

Impressed, Harry turned to the younger agent.

"Well you're just full of..." But he trailed off, unwilling to finish the thought, when the memory of saying the same thing to someone else stole in.

"What?" Tequila quizzed, clueless about the bittersweet memory that had intruded.

"...interesting information," Harry lamely amended.

"Right," Tequila said, obviously let down a little too. Harry didn't mean to keep ruining the moment. It was difficult not to though when he was carrying baggage accumulated over half a century.

Before he could sink too far into the melancholy thought something caught his eye, a flutter in the moonlight, and he realised it was a male Hercules. It's orange, white and gold wings shimmering beautifully as it flew. He appreciated how fortunate they were to witness this occurrence, it was a rare thing to see a pair of Hercules moths together. Even rarer to see one on the wing.

Without thinking, he reached out and clasped the younger man's hand, wordlessly conveying the significance of the moment.

They watched silently as the immense lepidopteran landed near the female. Admittedly, it was a magical moment, seeing this moth in flight, but one he didn't want to intrude on any longer.

"I think we'd best leave them to it." He didn't want to disturb the moths any more than they already had.

Outside in the cool night air once again, Harry turned to the other man.

"I think you've been planning this..." he assessed. Stumbling upon a pair of Hercules moths, albeit captive ones, was highly unlikely. The timing of their metamorphosis was so unpredictable, taking anywhere from nine months up to two years, with no way of knowing when the adult moth would emerge.

"What? Breaking into a butterfly house where a moth that takes months to develop and only lives for a few days happens to be at its spectacular best?"

"Yes."

"A lucky break."

"I don't believe in luck. And I can't ever recall anyone going to so much trouble. So thank you."

"Well I can't claim it's entirely unselfish..."

This time Harry knew what was coming next, and he wanted it. Maybe for the first time ever, he knew what it felt like to be appreciated, not because of his skill or what he had to offer for another's benefit, but simply because of who he was. Not to mention he'd missed the American this past week.

He was slowly leaning in, aiming to rest his hand on the other's shoulder, when he noticed a pair of bright blue wings.

"Oh. There's a _Papilio ulysses_."

"What?" Tequila blinked, understandably thrown by the abrupt change in mood.

"Ulysses butterfly," Harry clarified, reaching up to gently lift the butterfly from Tequila's shoulder, apparently the swallowtail had hitched a ride to freedom. "This one's a male. Did you know that according to the light spectrum, they are the perfect shade of blue?" Harry held it up for the other man to see better. "Make a wish."

"What do you mean?"

"Blue butterflies are believed to grant wishes, and they don't get any bluer than this one. Go on."

Tequila gave him an amused look.

"That doesn't sound very scientific."

"Perhaps not, but it is a lovely thought."

"Alright..." the younger man agreed, indulging Harry and making the wish.

The insect sat on Harry's finger for a moment longer before flying off into the night.

"Now he's missed his chance," Tequila commented. "He's not gonna find a mate out here."

"Children aren't the only thing that can give a life meaning. Maybe he'll find a handsome foreign butterfly to spend the rest of his short time with."

It was true that its chances on the outside weren't good, the climate wasn't right, but even under optimal circumstances the Ulysses only lived for about two weeks because of its erratic flight pattern. Butterflies didn't possess the ability to heal, which meant any damage they sustained was permanent, they just had to do the best with what they were given until they became too broken to carry on. Standing here with a body, mind and heart on the mend, Harry was suddenly very grateful that people were more fortunate, the possibility of recovery and second chances was not something every creature was granted. He didn't want to miss this opportunity. This young man had shown time and again that he was someone worth taking a chance on, that there might even be a future here.

"Hey," Tequila said softly, resting his palm against Harry's cheek and turning his face back towards him, "I told you before, you're not that old..."

Then they were kissing, really kissing for the first time, both of them committing in equal parts. And this time Harry wasn't shocked or hesitant or unsure. This time he was certain of what he wanted and more than ready to start again.

 **AN: I have never been to London Zoo, but I have been to Butterfly Sanctuary in Kuranda, Australia. I was lucky enough to see a female Hercules moth, and some male Ulysses butterflies, both are incredibly beautiful and I'm sure Harry would agree. All the facts in this fic I learned on a guided tour there, and are accurate to the best of my knowledge.**


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